Celebrating 200!

Last week I was talking about 400 and this week it's 200!

Yes, I'm celebrating having 200 designs published! ... and here is number 200:

I found these gorgeous little wooden mini hoops at a Craft Show at the end of last year and fell in love with them. The display area is just 1¼ inches so they are really quite tiny, so there is only a wee bit of stitching on each, but I think they are as 'cute as a button'.

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would ever have any of my craft work published, so it is quite mind-boggling to think I've reached the 200 milestone.

For years I said I could never produce anything original and my only 'dream' was that one day my stitching would gain some sort of acknowledgement - maybe win a prize in a competition or someone from the Craft world would tell me that they liked it.

My dear mother always told me that my craft was "so professional looking" and friends and family duly liked what I showed them, but I always hoped that someone who really knew, would confirm those sentiments.

Then one day it happened - an editor decided that my original design was worth publishing and so began a decade of my dream coming true and receiving recognition for my stitching. I am so thankful for that lovely editor taking a risk with me and giving me an opening that has gone from strength to strength and been so fulfilling. I am hopeful that there will be a few more years of designing and stitching in the future! 

I called my 200th project "Jumping Through Hoops" and these are very easy hoops to jump through!  The pattern is in Handmade Vol 34 No 12.

Thank you for being part of my journey!

Val